The North Korean government requested assistance from UK-based NGO ShelterBox on the day of the Pyongyang apartment collapse in May, a spokesperson for the organization confirmed on Wednesday.

ShelterBox, which provides emergency shelter and supplies to communities displaced by disasters, told NK News that they were approached by North Korea to help individuals displaced by the incident.

“One of our North Korean contacts emailed ShelterBox on 13 May 2014, after the building collapse, asking whether we could help,”a spokesperson for ShelterBox who declined to be named said.

Despite previously providing shelter and assistance to North Koreans in rural areas of the